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Scientists have identified a protein that explains how smoking triggers genetic changes that lead to cancer.

Production of a protein called FANCD2 slows down when lung cells are exposed to cigarette smoke, and low levels of the protein lead to DNA damage as it is normally involved in DNA repair.

The finding, which is detailed in the British Journal of Cancer, could eventually lead to new treatments for lung cancer.

Senior author Dr Grover Bagby, founding director of the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute and a professor at the Northwest Cancer VA Research Centre at the Portland VA Medical Centre, explained that cigarette smoke 'knocks out' the production of FANCD2.

'Although there are probably other proteins involved in this process, we know this is a key one because cells with very high levels of FANCD2 were resistant to the toxic effects of the smoke,' he revealed.

Dr Lesley Walker, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said that smoking causes nine out of ten cases of lung cancer.

'But the good news is that quitting works,' he noted. 'After five years without smoking, your risk of a heart attack will have fallen to half that of a smoker. And after ten years your risk of lung cancer will have halved too.'